Wire-gate latch



Jah. 29 1924- H. H. SUTTON WIRE GATE LATCH Filed Jan. 18.. 1923 :s Sheet s-Sheet 1 a $5 mm mm & m

mm mm. 5 E 8 N mu I iljflfiuitun mu Jan. 29 1924- H. H, SUTTON WIRE GATE LATCH Filed Jan. 18' 1.92s :5 Sheets-Sheet 2 idllifiuttrm Jan. 29, 1924- H. H; SUTTON WIRE GATE LATCH Filed Jan. 18, 1923 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 Patented Jan. 29, 1924.

STATES HARRY H.'SUT'IJON, 0F LUCAS, SOUTHDAKOTA;

Winn- ATE LATCH.

Application filed- January 18, 1523. Serial No. 613,349.

To qallwhom it may concern:

Be it knownthat I, HARRY H. SUTTON, a citizen of the United States, residing at Lucas, in the county of Gregory and 'State of South Dakota, have invented certain new and. useful vI inprove 'ments in .VVire-Gate Latches, of-which the following is a specification. s v

Thepresent invention relates to improvements in wire gate latches and has for an object the provision of an improved. latch by theiuse ot-which the woven wire'or' other gate of flexible: charactenmayhe maintained in a tautcondition when closed.

The idea underlying the invention is to stretch the flexible or wire gate across the gate-opening-in such wise that thegate presents the same eii'ective barrier as the remainder of the: wire fence; and affords no loopholes for the escape of small animals as occurs frequently when gates of this character sag,

Another object of the invention is to accomplishthese results simply and inexpensively and by a latch mechanism that is comparativ'ely easy to operate.

A further objectv ofthe invention is to provide alatch mechanisnrin which the closing movement will be efi'e'ctive to apply ,gfreat force to the stretching ot'the wires without, however, imposing a too great burden upon, the operator.

A still furtherobject of the invention is to ,provide 'a mechanismof this character whichwill be compact inits arrangement and assembly and attachable to the fence post and the gate without entailinga'ny alterations-ot the standardconstructions.

With the foregoing and otherobj sets in view, the invention willbe more fully described hereinafter, and will". be more" particularly poi'ntedout in the claims appended 5 Figure 1 is-a-fragmentary view, with; parts broken away showing the gate and the.

improved I latch" mechanism in front elevasostions Figure 2-is a plan view of the same parts.

Fig' nre fi' isa vertical sectiomwith parts broken away through thefence at one of the drawings, wherein like symbols except that the mechanism is shown as unlatched and the gate partially collapsed."

Figure 5 is a-plan view of the'la-tch' mechanismin the' open position.

Figure Sis a fragmentary view with parts broken away, (Stone of the gate bars with the vkeeper thereon; 1

Figure 7 is a view in elev ation'otthfe modlfied form of ate construction with the latching mechanism sho wn' un'latched.

m8 is a' similar viewwith the parts latched, and

' 'Figure'9 'is'a'plan View ofth'e device shown in Figure 81 r I g v 'Referring more particularly toFi'gur'es '1 to 6 inclusive, l0 designates wire fence of any known, character and 11 afence" post erected at one side ofthejgate opening and having eye bolts 12 therein for coupling swingingly to complemental fastenings 13 upon the gate bar 14. I

The gate member is also provided with an opposite end vertical bar 15 and with an intermediatebaror rail 16, wireniesh or fabric 17 being stretched betvwaenthe end bars'and attached to the intermediate bar or rail '16 so that thdmesh of the gate is similar to the mesh 10 of the general fence structure and extends downas close to the igr'oundand close to the gate posts 11 and 118 for thepurpose of barring the passage ott pigs 'or other smallan'imals. 'The fence may comprise a greater number of bars or rails butthree are sufiicientffor cooperating, with the improved latch mechanism and to this end the bar 15 is provided near its'top portion with an eye bolt 19,towhich is connected a chain 20 having a suitable number of links adapted to be selectively fittedwithin thewolute end 21 of a latch base which ispivotally carried upon the post '18ns best seen in this Figure 3a bolt 25' is sliowviras passing horizontally through the post f and at right angles to the plane of the fence fabric. This bolt is secured as by a, nut 2 6 atone end bearing against a washer 2 7 fitted against the wood of the post. ,The' head 28 otthebolt extends a considerable distance beyond the opposite facepf the post and is beveled or, countersunk into a washer 29 which extendsabout t he outer'fa'ce of the latch barQt. Thelatch bar is perforated at this poi-nt in order to extendnbout the shank oft/he boltandfabouttl'ie cylindrical portion 22 of a washer having a flange 23 engaging against the opposite side face of the latch bar 24. The washer extends about 7 the shank of the bolt 25 and engages at its 7 25 to the upper end of the gatepost 18. The

flanged end against a diagonal brace whlchis connected also by means of the bolt brace extends down and is connected to an ad acent post or into the ground, in accordance wlth a well known manner in fence construction.

The gate rail 15 is provided near its lower end with an eye bolt 31 having a relatively large eye for cooperating with a hook 33 uponia lower latch bar 34 secured as by a bolt 35 pivotally to the post 18 directly beneath the bolt 25. Anut 36 and washer 37 are employed to hold the pivot bolt 35 upon the post 18 as shown in Figure 3; and a washer 38 surrounds the opposite projecting head end of the bolt 35 to space the bar 34 away from the post to give said bar free movement. The head of thebolt 35 is countersunk in the engaged portion of the latch bar 34. a

As seen probably to best advantage in Figure 4 the latch bars 24 and 34 are connected by a reach bar 39 pivoted to the bar 34 as indicated at 40 and to the upper bar 24 as indicated at 41. These pivot bolts are preferably countersunk in both of the bars as indicated at 41 in Figure 3. The upper latch .bar 24 is provided with a handle extension 32 lying beyond the pivot point 41 and the reach bar 39 is off set as indicated at 43 and the lower latch bar 34 is similarly oi? set as at 44 in order to permit movement of the .bars passed one another in moving from the position shown in Figure 1, in which the gate is latched, to the position shown in Figure 4, where the latching mechanism is moved to open position. In Figure 1 it is clear that the lower bar 34 is pivoted in the same plane with the upper bar 24 is adapted to engage in the keeper carried upon the intermediate gate rail 16 when the parts are in the position shown in Figure 1. This keeper is shown more particularly in Figure 6 wherein a base strip 45 is shown to be secured as by the bolts 46 to I the rail 16, the base strip being composed of strap metal and being returned upon itself at its upper end and directed downwardly to form the substantially inverted U-shaped keeper open at its base to receive the extension part 42 and being rolled over at its lower free edge as indicated at 47 to extend about one member of the link 48. This link forms a pivotal latch for holding the extension 42 against escape downward, and from being pushed downward by theanimals or by children or avoiding any accidental or casual opening of the gate.

Now in operation, the parts initially assume the position shown in Figure 4 and the eye 32 is engaged over a hook 33 of the lower latch bar, while the chain 20 is secured about the volute end 21 of the upper latch bar 24. Under these circumstances .the gate is substantially in the condition illustrated in which the rails are drawn together by'the sagging of the wire and'the fabric is raised above the ground. After making a proper engagement of the partswith the latch bars,

such latch bars are then swung upwardly by rasping the handle or extension part 42. The upper bar 24- is swung through a'complete semi-circle or, through 180 degrees, thus causing a' direct pull upon thechain 20, the

engaged link slidin about in the volute end 21, and the volute liaracter of this end will present a sufiicient obstruction to the accidental disengagement of the chain even when the parts are in the inverted position I shown in Figure 1. The reach bar 39 will of course be drawn upon during this movement and it will serve to rotate the lower latch bar 34 through approximately 90 degrees until said latch bar finally brings up with its length extending vertically along the 30st 18. The hook 33 will have pulled upon the lower portion of the gate structure and it will be found that the gate is stretched en tirely across the gate opening with theigate i bars lying vertically and no means of escape being provided with the gate any more than at other portions of the fence; The arrangemerit of thefour pivots for thelatch bars provide for this movement and for thepar allelism of the reach bar 39 with the upper latch bar 24 when the parts are in the latched position shown in Figure 1. The extension 42 is slipped beneath the link 48 which is automatically swung back but ,mov'es. again across the opening due to the-force of gravity. In this condition the extension 42 cannot escape except by the positive opening of the link 48 during the movement of the part 42 downwardly.

Now the mechanism already described is suitable for small animals but where cattle are to be confined a somewhat cheaper construction may be employed with equally good results. V f 7 Referring to Figures 7, 8 and 9 for this structure we have the horizontalrfence wire 50 wound about the gate post 51 and secured thereto as by staples 52, the wire 2 being continued as indicated at 53 to form the fabric for the gate. -By reason of this construction the end bar for the gate adjacent the post 51 is no longer required. The intermediate gate bar is indicated at 54 and the end rail by 55, these parts being composed of rough lumber or other suitable material and being afiixed to the gate wire. T he gate rail is extended downwardly and engaged in a staple Or loop 56 at the base of the other gate post 57 which carries the latch bar 58 having the volute end or hook 59 engaged with the chain 60 secured to the gate rail 55. The latch bar 58 is pivotally secured to the post 57 as by the bolt or pin 61 and is enabled to swing through a semicircle to bring its handle portion into engagement with the keeper 62'. T he keeper and its link 63 are as heretofore described and the engagement of the chain 60 with the latch bar will now be understood, the open position of the parts being shown in Figure 7 and the closed position in Figure 8 accomplished by swinging the latch bar 58 through 180 degrees and engaging its end in the keeper 62 which is upon the gate rail 54.

When the latch bar is swung over the vgate rail 55 is moving toward the post 57,

pivoting about the staple or loop 56 and stretching the gate wires taut. When the latch device is released the gate wires will sag and the lower projecting end of the gate rail 55 may be lifted out of the wire 56 so as to permit the gate to be swung about. I

It will be appreciated from the foregoing that both forms of the device are simple, inexpensive yet effective in action and permit of the ready opening and closing of the gate. The latch device forms an effective closure not apt to be loosened unintentionall ga e wires in good condition throughholding them taut.

The device will always maintain the I do not wish to be restricted to the size, form and proportions of the various parts,

and obviously changes could be made in the construction herein described without departing from the spirit of the invention 2. In combination with a flexible gate, a

gate post, a pivoted latch bar on the post having a hook, a chain carried by the gate for selective engagement with the hook, and a keeper on the gate for receiving a portion of the latch bar.

3. In combination with a gate, a gate post, a pair of latch bars pivoted to the post, a reach bar connecting said latch bars, means on the gate to detachably connect with said latch bars, and a keeper on the gate to receive one of the bars.

4. In combination with a wire gate having end bars and an intermediate bar, a keeper upon the intermediate bar, an eye upon one end bar, a chain upon the same end bar, latch bars having hooks pivoted to the post, a reach bar connecting said bars, said bars having ofl'set portions, one of'said bars having an extension to engage said keeper.

In testimony whereof, I have aflixed my signature in presence of two Witnesses.

I HARRY H. SUTTON.

Witnesses: I j

ARTHUR H. STURGES, HIRAM A. S'runens, 

